Skate is often unheard of outside of New England. However, its mild flavor and firm meat gets compared to one of New England's most sought after seafoods: scallops. Skate Cheeks (like the more-familiar Haddock or Cod cheeks) are the most tender and delicate part of the fish. They look and feel like scallops and can be prepared the same way, but are a by-product of the skate fishery that typically only ends up on restaurant menus.
Red's Best uses advanced freezer technology to super-freeze their locally caught fish and shellfish to temperatures below -61 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of 24 hours. They perform this process as it is necessary to reduce the risk of consuming raw, wild seafood. Red's Best commercial super freezer accelerates the freezing process, and preserves the texture of the proteins by reducing the expansion of water molecules within the flesh of the seafood.
The cheeks are flash frozen and vacuum sealed at peak freshness from the ocean. They are delivered to us frozen and stored in our freezer until they are packed in your box. Each item provides the transparent catch data on the packaging; the fisherman, vessel, port of origin, and gear used.
All our seafood selections are evaluated based on location and catch or aquaculture method as recommended by the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch.
- Catch Method: otter trawls. Closed areas, restrictions, and modifications on gear are implemented to help reduce impacts.
- Delivered: Frozen
Boston, MA
Headquartered on the historic Boston Fish Pier, Red’s Best was founded in 2008 by Jared Auerbach to serve fishermen from local coastal communities in the USA. They aggregate catches, networking small boats with proprietary technology to form a large market presence and level the global playing field. They sustain the livelihoods of American fishermen while sustaining fisheries for harvest. Red’s Best connects you to your fishermen and tells the story of every catch.
As a young fisherman from Boston, Jared worked on commercial vessels in Alaska and Cape Cod during the early 2000’s. He worked alongside hardworking fishermen and saw that with the advent of industrial technology and the governmental regulation of open oceans, traditional fishing communities and family fishing businesses began to struggle for survival. He also saw the abundance of species available in New England’s pristine cold waters. He set out to create a way for consumers to have direct access to the freshest seafood and envisioned a brand that would represent each and every fisherman and the pride of the profession. Red is every fisherman.